How Trekke Lumbar Lift Works
The common pain generator of low back pain is one or more impinged nerves. The impingement can be caused by a number of things; bulging disc(s), bone etc, etc, and these typically result from degenerated discs.
Disc degeneration is a natural phenomenon of aging but can be aggravated by injury and other medical maladies. That said, the typical end result is that the height of the discs diminishes and some discs may bulge out or even hemorrhage, nerve channels are diminished and in extreme cases vertebrae may become misaligned.
With exception to injury or specific maladies, the main cause of disc degeneration is gravitational loading. From the moment we get up each morning we add the weight of our upper torso onto our spinal column, with the heaviest loading taking place in the lumbar region. Removing or reducing this loading can unimpinged the nerves and relieve the pain (“Muscles, spinal compression and low back pain”).
Trekke Lumbar Lift works by providing that pain relieving unloading and is the only device in the marketplace that was designed specifically as a full time treatment for many causes of low back pain, including the 85% that is undiagnosable.
Trekke’s two belts anchor Trekke to the body and as air is pumped into the device it pushes the belts away from each other, lengthening and unloading the lumbar spine.
Because Trekke is made from only soft and supple materials it can be comfortably worn all day, allowing the spine to be unloaded throughout the entire duration of use. This greatly decreases the degeneration cycle and increases the regeneration cycle of the lumbar discs.
Ambulatory Spinal Unloading
“Ambulatory spinal unloading” is the “new kid on the block” when it comes to treatment of acute and chronic low back pain. It is so new that many care givers are not yet fully aware of it.
Anecdotally we know that relieving pressure on the discs via traction, non-surgical spinal decompression or inversion tables etc relieves the pain, we also know that continued activity opposed to inactivity is beneficial and everyone knows that stabilizing the spine and allowing strained muscles to relax and heal are critical to the healing process.
But, until ambulatory spinal unloading came along there was no way to offer the low back pain suffer the full treatment. This new treatment modality for low back pain allows sufferer the ability to regain mobility, flexibility and activity in a pain free or pain reduced environment, allowing discs to rehabilitate, muscles to realign and mend and damaged nerves to heal.
Ambulatory spinal unloading dramatically reduces the degenerative cycle and dramatically increases the rejuvenative cycle of the spine and is without a doubt one of the most beneficial and cost effective, non-invasive treatment modalities for acute and chronic low back pain available today.
Ambulatory spinal unloading can be used to extend the benefits offered by stationary treatments as well as chiropractic and physiotherapy treatments or be used as a pre surgery bridge or a post surgery protection/prevention tool.
Typical indications for this new treatment modality are most forms of low back pain that have been caused by; degenerative disc decease, herniated or bulging disc, nerve impingement, stenosis, facet syndrome, spondylolisthesis, lumbar vertebrae compression fracture, sciatica, lordosis etc and for many “undiagnosable” causes of low back pain.
Ambulatory Low back pain relief?
What is the benefit of being ambulatory when it comes to the treatment of low back pain?
There are many forms of chronic low back pain treatment and broadly they could be lumped into four modalities;
- Stationary treatments such as inversion tables, moon boots, TENS, traditional traction, electrical stimulation, etc
- Oral and topical medications
- Exercise
- Surgery
Historically low back pain sufferers have relied on a combination of two or more of these modalities to try to find relief. There are pros and cons to all four modalities; The stationary treatments may offer temporary relief, but because of their stationary nature are typically of short treatment duration with a similar short pain relief cycle. The oral medications mask pain but often negatively effect motor skills and so limit mobility while not really addressing the root cause. The topical medications may produce pain relief but again do nothing to address the underlying problems. Exercise may help, but with many spinal ailments it can also aggravate the situation and increase the level of pain, especially with crushed discs or impinged nerves and finally, surgery, which is considered by everyone to be the last resort treatment, often with problematic outcomes.
Ideally the best treatment modality would be one in which the low back pain sufferer was able to carry on their normal daily routine in a truly and non chemically altered, pain free environment. Aqua therapy comes closest to providing this modality but because you have to be in a pool, does not allow mobility. The treatment modality that does offer a normal daily routine in a non chemically altered, pain free environment is “ambulatory spinal unloading”.
By definition, ambulatory refers to being able to walk about and not be bedridden and spinal unloading means reducing the load being carried by the spine. In the case of low back pain this means reducing upper torso weight from the lumbar vertebrae and discs which in turn relieve any pressure they may be applying to nerves, the root cause of much low back pain.
The ambulatory spinal unloading modality of treatment is new, but for anyone that has chronic low back pain and has tried any or all of the typical treatments listed above they will immediately understand the huge benefits it has over all modalities that have come before it.
Ambulatory spinal unloading is truly a unique and revolutionary non-invasive low back pain treatment modality that will prove a benefit not only to the low back pain sufferer, but also to the chiropractors, physiotherapists, surgeons etc that are trying their best to assist the millions of low back pain sufferers.